Safety seal for fire extinguishers



A'pril18,1944. F.-FREDRYIKSEN 2,346,741

SAFETY SEAL FOR FIRE EXTINGUISHERS Filed March 17, 1945 Fredfieda' 5621/ 645- Jrrautrf Patented Apr. 18, 1944 UNITED STATES -Em" OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to a safety seal for fire extinguishers and has as its principal object to provide a safety seal which will be relatively simple in construction, economical in manufacture and highly efficient in use.

Another object of my invention is to provide a visible seal the tearing or removal of which will indicate that the fire extinguisher with which it is associated has been used, molested or tampered with.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a rugged seal for fire extinguishers, which seal may be readily removed when the use of the extinguisher vis needed.

A further object of this invention is to provide a safety seal for standard hand type fire extinguishers and which seal is flexible to accommodate extinguishers of varied dimensions.

Other objects will appear more fully hereinafter.

This invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention willbe best understood by a reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a fire extinguisher having my new safety seal associated therewith;

Fig. 2 isa vertical sectional detail view through my safety seal showing .the fire extinguisher in side elevation and a bracket therefor in section as viewed. from line2--2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the component parts of my new safety seal;

Fig. 4 is a top .plan view of an upper member of my new seal;

Fig. 5 isa top plan viewof a lower member of my new seal;

Figs. 6, '7 and 8 show amodified .form of my new safety seal,Fig. Gbeing amodification of the upper member shown in Fig. 3; Fig. '7 a top plan view of the same; and Fig. .3 a perspective view, looking up at a modified form .of bottom member.

Referring to the drawing Fig. 1 shows a fire extinguisher Ill mounted in a rack .l'l ready for use. buildings or vehicles .in full :view and are at all times within reach of the public generally. Because of such availability of these extinguishers they are easily accessible and it is not uncommon that they are occasionally molested and tampered with by unscrupulous persons. It has occurred on numerous occasions when an extinguisher is to be used, that the fluid in it had been removed by a thief, or that the nozzle has been plugged up Such racks are placed in various parts of by a child or a adult with the mind of a child and as a result the fire extinguisher is worthless when the emergency for which is was provided has arisen. Such defects cannot be seen by a mere glance at the extinguisher and even the persons who are charged with the responsibility of keeping them in working order may in a lax moment overlook the required periodical examination of them. With these conditions in mind I have provided a means for sealing a fire extinguisher in such a manner as to prevent unwarranted tampering without leaving a visible indication that such tampering has taken place.

To accomplish my purpose I provide a seal 25 consisting of a lower cap l3 and an upper cap l4 best illustrated in Fig. 3 which caps I3 and M are associated with a wire element 23 and a lead seal ?;i for joining the ends of the wire l5 after it has been inserted through the upper and lower aps. The caps i3 and M are preferably formed of a paper pulp which is tough enough to withstand breakage of fibre structure unless a positive effort is made to rip the caps. The lower cap l3 has a solid bottom wall l! with a sufiicient vertical wall {8 extending upwardly therefrom .to embrace the lower portion of the fire extinguisher H) as shown in Fig. 2. The upper cap I4 has a top wall 89 which has a central opening 20 formed therein to permit clearance therethrough of a collar 2! forming a part of the fire extinguisher. As seen in Fig. 1 the conventional hand type extinguisher hasa T-shaped handle 22 extending upwardly from the collar 2!. To facilitate ease in mounting the upper cap I4 on the extinguisher 'IS I have provided an elongated shape to the opening 28 by forming a pair of oppositely disposed recesses 23 in the top wall [9. By thus shaping the opening 29 the cap it can be placed over one arm of the T-shaped handle 22 and then vbe shifted sidewise for passage over the other arm of the T-shaped handle. The upper cap M has a depending skirting 24 which is adapted to embrace the upper side walls of the extinguisher ill in the manner shown in Fig. 2. By these upper and lower .caps IA- andl-It it will be noted that both filler cap it and lower cap i3f, bothof whichare removable, are completely enclosed-and cannot be removed from the cylindrical portion i0 without also removing thesealing caps l3 and 14.

Means for maintaining the upper and lower caps M and I 3 in the aforementioned position on the fire extinguisher ill is provided in the form of a lead seal 25. Each cap l3 and M has a vertically extending tab 25 having a hole 21 punched therethrough. The lead seal 25 comprises a piece of wire 28 or other binding means which is threaded through the holes 21 in the tabs 26 as shown in Fig. 3, the two free ends 293E! of the wire element 28 being joined by a lead ball 3| in a well-known manner.

XVhen the safety seal is completely mounted upon the extinguisher III as hereinbefore explained it appears as shown in Fig. 1 wherein the nozzle 32 of the extinguisher I is completely covered against access by reason of the solid bottom wall II on the lower cap I3 and only the handle 22 of the upper portion of the extinguisher is accessible for gripping. Thus it is seen that I have provided a safety seal for fire extinguishers whereby to prevent removal of the filler cap I4 without breaking the seal also that the nozzle 32 is guarded so that foreign matter cannot be inserted thereinto. Any rupture of the fibre structure of either upper or lower caps l4 or I3 can be easily seen by the most cursory examination. For this reason persons responsible for the condition of the fire extinguisher will be more careful in seeing that it is in perfect working order.

When an emergency arises and the extinguisher must be used it is only necessary to pull the wire 28 and thus rip the tabs 26 thus freeing the lower cap' It for removal to permit ejection of fluid from the nozzle 32.

Although fire extinguishers of the hand type are usually standard in dimensions there are slight discrepancies in fittings such as the lower caps I3 and the filler caps I4. To compensate for such discrepancies I provide expansion means in the formation of the caps I3 and I4 by forming a vertical pleat 33 in the walls thereof at spaced intervals. By reason of such construction there will be a certain amount of elasticity in the body of caps I3 and I4 so that they will fit snugly around the fire extinguisher as shown in section in Fig. 2.

A modified construction of my sealing caps I3 and I4 is shown in Figs. 6 through 8 wherein a top cap is indicated by the reference numeral 34 and a lower cap by number 35. These caps 34 and 35 have the same body structure as my preferred form and are indicated by like reference characters but differ from the preferred form only by reason of being made of corrugated paper 13$.to provide contiguous vertical pleating completely around the cap. As seen in Figs. 6 and '7 the opening 20 in the top wall I9 of the upper cap I4 need not be recessed as at 23 in Fig. 4.

"to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modification as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In' a safety seal for a hand type fire extinguisher having a nozzled bottom end and a pump handle extending from its upper end, said safety seal comprising a cup shaped bottom seal adapted to be arranged over said nozzled bottom end to completely embrace the same, an inverted cup shaped top seal having an opening formed in its top wall and adapted to fit over the pump handle to cover the upper end of the fire extinguisher, and means for sealing said bottom seal and top seal in the position aforesaid.

2. In a safety seal for a hand type fire extinguisher having a nozzled lower end and a removable upper end having a pump handle extending therefrom, said safety seal comprising a paper cap having a solid bottom Wall disposed over said nozzled lower end and a second paper cap having an opening formed in its upper wall and adapted to cover said removable upper end and permit said pump handle to extend therefrom, and a lead seal for maintaining said paper caps in the positions aforesaid.

3. In a safety seal for a hand type fire extinguisher having a nozzled lower end and a removable upper end having a pump handle extending therefrom, said safety seal comprising a paper cap having a solid bottom wall disposed over said nozzled lower end and a second paper cap having an opening formed in its upper wall and adapted to cover said removable upper end and permit said pump handle to, extend therefrom, and a lead seal for maintaining said paper caps in the positions aforesaid, said paper caps having pleats formed therein to render said caps flexible for fitting over said fire extinguisher as aforesaid.

4. In a safety seal for a hand type fire extinguisher having a nozzled lower end and a removable upper end having a pump handle extending therefrom, said safety seal comprising a paper cap having a solid bottom wall disposed over said nozzled lower end and a second paper cap having an opening formed in its upper wall and adapted to cover said removable upper end and permit said pump handle to extend therefrom, and a lead seal for maintaining said paper caps in the positions aforesaid, said paper caps being formed of corrugated paper to render them adjustable to variations in configurations of said fire extinguisher. I

5. In a safety seal for a hand'type fire extinguisher having a nozzled lower end and a removable upper end having a pump handle extending therefrom, said safety seal comprising a paper cap having a solid bottom wall disposed over said nozzled lower end and a second paper cap having an opening formed in its upper wall and adapted to cover said removable upperend and permit said pump handle to extend therefrom, and a lead seal for maintaining said paper caps in the positions aforesaid, said paper caps being formed of corrugated paper to render them adjustable to variations in configurations of said fire extinguishers, and to permit of facile removal thereof by tearing.

FRED FREDRKSEN. 

